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A Home-Based Business Online
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Practical home business ideas, strategies
and resources for the work-from-home
entrepreneur
October 1, 2000
Sent to 6,022 subscribers
Editor: Elena Fawkner
Publisher: Fawkner Publishing
http://www.fawkner.com
Contact By Email
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ATTENTION: You're receiving this ezine because you, or
someone using your email address, subscribed. There is no
other way of being added to this list. If you'd like to remove
your address from the AHBBO subscriber list, please see the
instructions in segment 8 below. Please note you CANNOT
be unsubscribed from AHBBO by replying to this email. The
AHBBO subscriber list is NOT made available to other
companies or individuals. I value every subscriber and respect
your privacy.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - House Sitting
Registry
3. Feature Article - Planning Through the Life Cycle of
Your Business (Part III)
4. News Release - International Council of Online
Professionals (iCOP™)
5. This Week's Subscriber Web Site Pick
6. Contest
7. Advertise in A Home-Based Business Online
8. Subscription Management
9. Caveat Emptor
10. Contact Information
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
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Hello again, and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers
who have joined us since the last issue!
In this week's feature article, we continue with Part III of the
series, "Planning Through the Life Cycle of Your Business",
this week looking at the Terrible Two's. Parts 1 and 2 are
available by autoresponder at mailto:planpt1@fawkner.com
and mailto:planpt2@fawkner.com
. Apologies for those
of you attempting to pick up copies of these articles using
the autoresponder addresses I provided last week. For some
reason they didn't work.
A few odds and ends before we get down to business:
The new AHBBO site is nearing completion and should be
ready for launch in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you informed.
Advertisers, the sponsor ad spot in this ezine will be available
again from next week. That's the ad in the spot just above the
contents panel. If you want it, move fast. These
spots sell
out quickly. Details at http://www.fawkner.com/adsubmit.htm
.
Finally, I want to tell you about an interesting but unsavory new
trend I discovered this week. I received an email from a "Tiffany"
early in the week. Here's what it said:
"hello,
I would like for you to call me about your business opportunity.
My Name Is Tiffany, My number is 250-555-1234 [number
changed to protect the guilty]. I Will be home all day."
Hmm ... I thought to myself. What business opportunity
would that be? And put the email aside until I had time to
deal with it. Before long, though, another email arrived in my
inbox. You guessed it:
"hello,
I would Like to talk to someone about your business opportunity.
My name is Jane. Please call me at my home number when
you have a chance. I am always looking for new and exciting
ways to make money from home. My number is 330-555-1234
[number changed again]. I will be at home all day."
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. In total I received
seventeen emails, each from different people, all wanting me to
call them so they could talk to me about my "business
opportunity", none of whom mentioned in the email exactly what
business opportunity it was they were interested in and all of
whom were home all day. Now, suspicious creature that I am,
I haven't called these individuals. What's the bet that calling
these numbers will result in my paying my own good money to
hear THEIR pitch?
Don't fall for it. If someone wants information about your
program they won't ask like that. They'll identify the
business opportunity they're referring to, they'll ask specific
questions and, nine times out of ten, they will not be giving out
their telephone number to you, not at this stage of the game,
anyway.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this
week's issue.
Remember, this ezine is for YOU! If you have comments
or suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed,
or would just like to share your experiences with other
subscribers, I want to hear from you! Please send comments,
questions and stories to Contact By Email
.
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2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - House Sitting
Registry
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If you're a renter, what's the hardest part of buying your own
home? Saving the downpayment. It's tough to do when your
salary is being spent on rent and other living expenses. If you
don't have much of a surplus, saving for that downpayment
can take forever.
If you're a homeowner, what's the hardest thing about going on
extended vacation? Worrying about your house, garden and
pets while you're gone.
Here's where your business can come in. A House Sitting
Registry basically brings these two groups together. Many
renters, instead of paying rent every month, would prefer to
house sit in someone else's home and save that rent towards
a deposit. In exchange for free accommodation, the renter
takes care of the property, tends to the plants and looks after
the owner's animals. The renter's only expense is utilities and
food.
Home-owners, naturally enough, are going to be concerned
about exactly who it is who's going to be living in their house
for the next six weeks. For this reason, it's vital that your
sitters come with sterling references. Of course, once that
sitter's first assignment is complete it becomes a whole lot
easier because the home-owner can provide a reference and
you can provide a reference based on the first experience and
away you go.
Your income from this business comes from the sitter. The
sitter should pay you a membership fee for a certain period of
time, say one year. I've seen membership fees of around $250
per year. You allow home-owners to list their property for free.
If you're interested in learning more about this business idea, I
suggest you visit the Australian House Sitters site at
http://www.housesitters.com.au.
It's an excellent example of
how this idea can work in practice.
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There are many more ideas like this in AHBBO's Home
Business Ideas page at http://www.fawkner.com/hbideas.html
and Online Business Ideas page at
http://www.fawkner.com/obideas.html
with more being added
all the time.
============================================================
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3. Feature Article - Planning Through the Life Cycle of
Your Business (Part III)
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© 2000 Elena Fawkner
This is part three of a multi-part article on business planning
through the lifecycle of your business. In part one, we covered
the business life stages "Gleam in the Eye" and "Conception
and Birth". Part one was concerned with conceiving the initial
idea for a business and thinking through how to make it work
within the context of your own life; whether it would work for
you at all, in fact. In part two we tackled "Toddlerhood",
learning how to crawl, walk and run. In this part, we look at
the next stage of your business life cycle - the "Terrible
Two's".
In case you're just joining us, for the illustrative purposes of
this article series, your business is creating stained
glass lampshades, door panels and windows. The first two
parts of the article are available by autoresponder. Refer to
the end of this article for links.
THE TERRIBLE TWO'S
The period the "Terrible Two's" should not be treated too
literally. Although it may well be at the two year mark for
your business, it may come earlier or later. What we're
looking at now is crunch time. The time when your
business has reached the point where you can no longer
handle both it and your outside job (or, if you're a stay
at home parent, it and your family responsibilities). In
other words, your business is rapidly becoming a full-time
venture.
At this point, you need to make a critical decision. Do you
make room in other areas of your life to allow your business
to continue to expand to its fullest potential or do you
instead retard its growth, thereby confining it to manageable
proportions?
The decision is one that requires a consideration not only
of business issues but personal ones as well. Don't be too
quick to say "well, of course, I'm not going to stunt the
growth of my business! That would be crazy, I've worked too
hard." OK then, what's going to give? Are you prepared
to
give up your day job? Are you prepared to put your kids
into daycare? Just how far are you prepared to go?
Now, understand there are no right and wrong answers here.
You must do what's right for YOU. You're directing this
movie, no one else. So think about what YOU want, not what
others want for you or what they want for themselves from you.
(And no, I'm not talking about children here. Well, only the
ones over 35.)
If you're currently in the full-time paid workforce, think
laterally about your options. Is it possible to start working
part-time instead of full-time, for example? Is it possible to
take an unpaid leave of absence for three months to really
put your business to the test before cutting the cord with
your employer?
Really think through all the issues. You're going to have to
give up your employer-funded pension plan and medical
benefits. Paid vacations, too, will become a thing of the
past. Your income will be directly proportionate to how
successful you are at marketing your business. How will
you cope, both financially and emotionally, if you have to
go for an entire month without making a single sale? What
financial reserves do you have? How long will they last?
And the difficulty only increases if you have young children
to care for. To run your business on a full-time basis means
you can't also care for your children on a full-time basis
unless, of course, you find a way of existing on one hour
of sleep a night. So, the reality is that you may need to
put your children in daycare, at least part-time. If you're
a stay at home parent by choice, that's likely to be difficult
for you. It may go against everything you believe. If so,
that's OK. You don't HAVE to make your business a
full-time, all or nothing kind of thing. In your case,
deliberately limiting the growth of your business makes
perfect business sense! Don't fight the facts, as they
say in law school. Just work with your circumstances.
Whatever you decide, decide you must. Now, as I said,
this may not necessarily be the two year mark for your
business. It may be the four year mark or the one year
mark. The important thing is to recognize it when it
comes. Here are some warning signs:
1. CONSTANT RUSH
You're in a constant rush. You don't feel that you have the
time to do anything properly and everything you do is done
only half as well as you're capable of. You begin to feel
like Jack of all trades, master of none.
2. TIME BEGINS TO FEEL LIKE AN ENEMY
You feel the constant pressure of time getting away from
you. You always have the feeling there's not enough hours
in the day. You begin "cheating" time. You get up an hour
earlier every day to get a head start; you work through
lunch; you never take a break; you begin "stealing" time
from your employer because you're just so tired at night
to even think about new window designs.
3. YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT ISN'T WORK OR
BUSINESS RELATED
You realize that every single thing you do during the course
of your day has something to do with either your work (or
your family responsibilities if you're a WAHP) or your
business. There is zero time for you. Remember how you
used to set aside time for yourself every Sunday night to
take a long, leisurely bath? Well, you can't even remember
the last time you did that. These days a quick five minute
shower is a luxury. Even driving to and from work is occupied
with thoughts of what you're going to do when you arrive at your
destination. No more just happily humming along listening to
your favorite music station.
4. YOU CAN'T TURN YOUR MIND OFF
Even if you're cajoled by your spouse into taking a vacation
or even a weekend away, you're so preoccupied with what's
not getting done at home and at work that you might as
well not have come. You're not there anyway.
5. YOU'RE TIRED ALL THE TIME
You never seem to be able to get enough sleep. You fall
asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and it seems like
only five minutes until the alarm goes off the next morning.
And on and on it goes.
By the time you get to this stage, what began as an
exciting new adventure has become an albatross around your
neck, just one more thing to drag you down.
You begin to feel that you can't go on much longer. Well, guess
what? You're right. You CAN'T go on like this. So,
what's going
to give? Something has to. Things have reached critical
mass.
Make the decision, then do whatever it takes to make it work.
This concludes Part III of this article. Stay tuned for Part IV
next week when we look at the relatively easier and happier
times of Troubled Teens (I kid you not) and Young Adulthood.
------
** Reprinting of this article is welcome! **
This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you
use the autoresponder copy which contains a resource box;
and (2) you leave the resource box intact. To receive a copy
of this article by autoresponder, just send a blank email to
mailto:planpt3@fawkner.com
. If you missed the
first two parts, they're available by autoresponder at
mailto:planpt1@fawkner.com
and mailto:planpt2@fawkner.com
.
============================================================
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5. News Release - International Council of Online
Professionals (iCOP™)
============================================================
You are used to seeing jl Scott's Pro-motion column in this
space. With effect from this week, however, jl's column will
only be available for viewing online, ezine syndication having
been brought to an end with the launch of the new iCOP™
(International Council of Online Professionals) site. AHBBO
is one of the websites that has purchased the syndication
rights to Pro-Motion so you will still be able to check in
every week for your fix!
As one of the founding members of iCOP™, I would like to
personally endorse the Council and recommend that you
become a member. The following news release says it best:
~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WATCHING OUT FOR CONSUMERS ONLINE?
Anyone can start a business online. Anyone. It's easier and
less expensive than ever before. It doesn't matter if the person
has experience or not. For less than $100 anyone can claim
to be anything they want and hide behind a web page collecting
money from trusting consumers. The question is, who is
legitimate and who isn't? In other words ...
---------- Who *Can* You Trust?
Collecting the money and disappearing is extremely easy.
Canceling the web page and vanishing is as easy as the click
of a mouse. Unfortunately, the Internet and the World Wide
Web - the very same tool that has the potential to change
lives for the better - is also creating a haven for scams and
unprofessional conduct which is not in the best interest of
consumers.
---------- So what can be done?
The International Council of Online Professionals, also known
as iCop™, has stepped up to the plate to set standards for
business protocol. These standards are establishing confidence
in the consumer's mind and assuring the integrity of the business
owner. iCop™ was organized for this very purpose by dr. jl scott
with the help of 29 of the Internet's foremost online professionals
as its Founding Members.
iCop's™ stringent guidelines are separating those who are
just trying to make a fast buck from those with a genuine
desire to run a top notch business. iCop™ members are
selling their products and services under guidelines which
protect the consumer. In turn, this is enhancing the confidence
of consumers as they continue to come online to make
purchases.
---------- So how can a consumer recognize a Professional?
To quote Dr. Scott's own words:
"Professionalism is not measured by how large a company
is - or by how well-known. It is measured by the knowledge,
and use, of professional business practices. It is measured
by doing the job - and doing it to the best of one's ability. It
is measured by the willingness to learn as well as to teach.
Even more importantly, it is measured by the highest ethical
standards, by commitment to the customer and by a giving
back to the world in general."
In an effort toward making business on the web a great place
to prosper, iCop™ has stepped in to fill the void through the
use of education and guidelines which are helping businesses
to help and re-assure their customers. The iCop™ slogan,
"We Police Ourselves to Protect the Consumer," is aimed at
encouraging self-regulation on the Internet.
To further underline iCop's™ determination to encourage
widespread professional standards, their membership
subscription rates are set at an extremely affordable $100 a
year, payable in 4 installments.
I would suggest that $2 a week is insignificant when you
consider the priceless amount of re-assurance that
consumers receive *knowing* they are dealing with someone
whose proven credibility is beyond reproach.
For more detailed information on the International Council
of Online Professionals visit; http://www.i-Cop.org
or email
mailto:jlscott@i-Cop.org
============================================================
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6. This Week's Subscriber Web Site Pick - Womans-Net.com
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http://www.womans-net.com
Kim writes:
"Hi Elena,
"In reading your recent ezine publication featuring Alfred Mauro,
I can easily answer his question that he is NOT alone in having
difficulties making sales from his web site. Although I read your
ezine on a regular basis, and carry some of your articles on my
site, I too am having that age-old problem of not making sales.
"I have what I believe is an awesome deal. What can be better
than offering $2.00 ads? These ads come complete with photo
upload and a contact form directly on the ad page. This program
has been running about two months now and I have only made
two sales. This can't even begin to cover what is costs me to
keep this section going. Where else can your ad be seen 24
hours a day, 7 days a week for only $2.00 a month?
"Traffic to my site is not a problem, as my stats are showing
600-1000 visitors a day. I give away free stuff, information and
believe I have site "stickiness" but sales of my ads and
promotional products are at an all time low.
"I would be thrilled to have you take a look and tell me what it is
that I might be missing here.
Kim - Womans-Net.com Founder
http://www.womans-net.com
Women with vision - not just goals!"
~*~*~*~*~
Kim has astutely recognized that women represent an increasingly
MAJOR force online and has deliberately set out to target this
segment of the market. So far, so good.
Kim's situation is a good illustration of a problem not with the
concept, but with the execution. What could be a better deal
than a $2.00 ad indeed? But when you go to Kim's site and
check out those $2.00 ads, (go to
http://www.womans-net.com/cgi-bin/classads/classads.cgi
)
what do you see? Yep. A whole lot of zeros in brackets
next
to virtually every category. These ads may only cost two bucks
but as far as the prospective advertiser's concerned, if no-one's
visiting, she may as well flush those notes down the toilet.
Who's going to buy if they can see no-one else is?
OK, so what we have here is a classic Catch-22. Kim can't
attract paid advertisers because she doesn't already have paid
advertisers. It's kind of like not being able to get a bank loan
because you can't prove you don't need the money.
Solution? Get ads in there! Never mind the two dollar variety,
at this point we'll settle for ANY ads. Can you guess where
we're headed here? Right. Kim needs to start out by accepting
FREE ads. Then, when she starts getting a nice, steady
stream of ads, she can THEN start charging (two bucks,
three bucks or twenty -- whatever the market will bear). But
until advertisers start seeing activity on those boards, Kim can
offer to sell that ad space for a dime and I'd be willing to bet
she won't see any difference.
How to generate free ads? There are numerous ways. Start
by placing free ads in the free ad forums advertising free
ad space. Kim's getting 600-1000 site visitors a day. Her
ad
should mention that. Those looking to place free ads will want
a piece of that action. If Kim publishes an ezine, she can offer
a free ad to all new subscribers as a bonus for joining. Each
of these suggestions benefits Kim as well. She generates
more traffic to her site in the form of visitors wanting to place
their own free ads and while they're there, a good proportion
will stick around and take a good look and maybe place an
order for one or more of Kim's promotional products. And she'll
also generate more subscribers to her ezine. It's a win-win all
the way around.
Finally, a word about pricing. Many (maybe most) people
firmly believe they get what they pay for. It's at least possible
that by pricing ads at $2.00, Kim is inadvertently undervaluing
her ad space. Some advertisers may think that if Kim's giving
away her ad space for such a low premium then maybe it's
because that's all it's worth. Low-ball pricing can backfire
and
this should be looked at if the free ad route doesn't yield the
desired result.
------
If you want your site seen by thousands, write and tell me
about it! But make sure it's one you've created yourself
or have had created especially for you. No self-replicating affiliate
sites please.
mailto:elena@fawkner.com?subject=website_pick
============================================================
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============================================================
7. Contest
============================================================
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============================================================
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============================================================
8. Advertise in A Home-Based Business Online
============================================================
A zero tolerance policy applies at AHBBO in relation to
undeliverable mail. This means that the recipient address
for emails returned "undeliverable" (including where the
recipient's mailbox is full) is automatically deleted from
the AHBBO subscriber database.
This policy has been introduced to more accurately reflect,
in the subscriber numbers, the number of eyes who will
actually see your ad. Because AHBBO classified ad rates
are calculated on a $CPM basis, this policy is intended to
maximize the return on your advertising dollar.
Current ad rates and placement details are at
http://www.fawkner.com/adsubmit.htm
. Choose from
sponsor ads, single ad placements, Ad Paks (4 ads for the
price of 3), Super Ad Paks (7 ads for the price of 5) and
exclusive mailings.
============================================================
Do you like this ezine? Recommend-It(r) to a Friend!
http://recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=446574
============================================================
9. Subscription Management
============================================================
Please note: email addresses for ALL returned mails are
automatically deleted from the AHBBO subscriber database.
If you have a free email account and want to continue
receiving this ezine, please make sure you clear out your
mailbox on a regular basis!
To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter
http://www.fawkner.com/subscribe.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter
mailto:subscribers@fawkner.com?subject=unsubscribe
(Processing of unsubscriptions is automated. Please make
sure that your email is sent from the account you subscribed
with otherwise you will not be unsubscribed. If you've tried
to unsubscribe but keep receiving AHBBO, please make
sure you've tried to unsubscribe with the address you
subscribed with before contacting me.)
To CHANGE your Subscription Address
mailto:subscribers@fawkner.com?subject=change_address
and in the body of the email tell me what your old address
was and what it needs to be changed to.
If you find this newsletter valuable, please forward it
in its entirety to your friends, family and associates!
============================================================
10. Caveat Emptor
============================================================
Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is
published in good faith, neither the publisher nor the
editor accept any responsibility as to the accuracy or
otherwise of the information presented. By making use of the
information contained in AHBBO the reader assumes all risk
that certain information may prove to be incorrect.
All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However,
advertisers are solely responsible for the content and
accuracy of their classified advertisements and no
warranties are given, nor responsibility accepted, by the
editor or the publisher in relation to any classified
advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS carry
out your own due diligence!
============================================================
11. Contact Information
============================================================
Elena Fawkner, Editor
A Home-Based Business Online
Contact By Email
http://www.fawkner.com
============================================================